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Sunday, December 27, 2009

Iran has been ripe for revolution for a few years now. The chimes of freedom should have rung six-months ago after the election was rigged giving Ahmedinejad the "win" over the peoples choice Mousavi.

The subsequent uprising needed only the support of the United States and Obama voted "present" instead of giving his support. People died and one in particular will be the heroine of the revolt when it's all said and done:

Neda Soltan was not political. She did not vote in the Iranian presidential election on June 12. The young student was appalled, however, by the way that the regime shamelessly rigged the result and reinstalled Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ignoring the pleas of her family, she went with her music teacher eight days later to join a huge opposition demonstration in Tehran.

“Even if a bullet goes through my heart it’s not important,” she told Caspian Makan, her fiancé. “What we’re fighting for is more important. When it comes to taking our stolen rights back we should not hesitate. Everyone is responsible. Each person leaves a footprint in this world.”

Ms Soltan, 26, had no idea just how big a footprint she would leave. Hours after leaving home, she was indeed shot, by a government militiaman, as she and other demonstrators chanted: “Death to the dictator.”

As an aside, note that Time's Person of the Year was Ben Bernanke while the Times (UK) chose Soltan. Telling indeed.

Anyway, the violence has flared up again and this time the results may be different. This is a continuation of the earlier protests but took on more fervor in wake of the death of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri who ran afoul of Ayatollah Khomeini but believed in a more relaxed theocracy than does the current leadership.

Things are getting bad as this video allegedly shows a child killed in the battles against regime forces:

This one shows the citizens beating said forces back:

The power of the digital world is on full display in this conflict as the ayatollahs have been trying to tamp down any news coming out but the young are using You Tube and Twitter to get the word out.

Let's hope that Obama can take time from his Hawaiian stay and support the people of Iran this time.